Lily's Not So Imaginary Friend
by MazerRick
Summary: Sometimes he saved her life. Sometimes he was a friend. Sometimes he bought her ice cream. Mr. Potter was always there when Lily Evans was in need.
1. Lily's Not So Imaginary Friend

Waiting for the train isn't usually an exciting task. Near death experiences didn't usually occur while waiting for the train. Six year old girls didn't usually meet century old entities of death that also happened to be their son from the future while counting down the minutes until their means of transportation arrived.

Today was an unusual day for Lily Evans.

She stood on the brick platform waiting patiently, or actually rather impatiently given how much she seemed to be fidgeting in her spot. Lily tuned out the sounds of the world around her as she lost herself in her own imagination. Though, she could still vaguely hear her mother chatting rather animatedly with the woman next to her. It was rather rude because Lily was trying to have tea with a lovely pair of rabbits and the noise was upsetting them.

Lily Evans was not a reckless child. That being said, she wasn't exactly timorous either. In fact she wasn't really timorous at all. Yes, you could describe her as a not-reckless-yet-not-very-timorous-either kind of child. Though not very many people would use that exact phrasing to describe Lily Evans.

She was, however, a child. Children have quite rash tendencies by nature. So, when Lily's favorite doll fell out of her feeble grip and rolled off the floor onto the train tracks she started to reach towards it. Her small hand slipped out of her mother's who was still busy talking to the woman next to her. Mrs. Evans seemed quite passionate on the subject of whatever small conversation the two women were having as the loss of the light grip of her daughter's hand was not noticed.

Lily was smart for a six year old, but even still children her age lose track of their surroundings when they're focused on something. Especially if that something is as important as the task of retrieving their favorite toy. As such, the train speeding into the station wasn't a big priority to her at the time.

Her attention shifted and the noise came crashing back to her as a hard tug to the back of her shirt sent her reeling back just as the train slowed to a stop in front of her. She stumbled a bit before she regained her balance. Lily blinked twice before she turned to her savior and her emerald green eyes met a mirror of the same color. The only difference was that the man's green eyes she was staring into seemed much, much older. Too old in fact. So old that even her gray haired, wrinkly grandpa's pair of lookers (as he called them) appeared young in comparison.

Lily took in the man's appearance. He had soft wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, but the spoke more of wisdom than age. The man had a pair of cheap looking glasses on and jet black hair that was only slightly graying. His hair, if you could even call the bird's nest atop his head hair, looked like a jungle it was so unruly. He had a very visible scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead. His clothes were rather unremarkable though Lily noticed the large golden ring on his hand and the small leather pouch attached to his belt.

The man also had a tattoo of a triangle with a circle and a straight line contained within it on his collarbone. It was interesting. Lily hadn't seen many tattoos in her short life, and certainly not one in such a visible area. She got scared for a moment, because her mother told her that men with tattoos were thugs. He flashed her a blinding smile and she relaxed. Another look at the man and she couldn't think of him as anything but nice. He did save her after all.

"You should be careful next time," the man spoke with a smooth voice that enraptured her the moment the heard it. "You're more important than that toy."

"Thank you," she replied in a small voice more out of habit than of conscious thought.

"You're very welcome Lily. I'm Mr. Potter by the way."

"How-"

"Lily come on darling, it's time to get on the train now," Mrs. Evans interrupted. Lily nodded and let her mother take her hand again. The girl turned to ask the mysterious man how he knew her name, but he was gone. She glanced around the platform one last time searching for Mr. Potter before being ushered onto the train by her mother.

Lily didn't remember the loss of her doll until her mother asked about it hours later when they finally arrived home.

* * *

The next time Lily encountered the mysterious man it was 3 years later and she was wandering through the forest close to her home. It wasn't a big forest by any means, but it was tranquil and filled with the sounds of nature. She really liked it. The only downside was that Severus couldn't come with her or his father would get angry.

It was also autumn which was her favorite time of year. The leaves were all pretty colors and it was fun to jump in piles of them. Lily skipped around for a while looking for flowers and to see if she could spot any animals. Her feet met the ground with a soft crunch as she maneuvered through the forest floor that was covered by the orange, yellow, and red leaves.

Unfortunately the small woods did not house any larger animals like deer, but she would find a squirrel or rabbit every once in a while. A quick look at the darkening sky told her that she needed to start heading home. She turned on the spot and began to walk back towards what she knew was the general direction of her home. Lily didn't want to make her parents worry so she quickened her pace.

A terrible splintering noise made her snap her head to the right. Lily watched with eyes wide in horror as a tree started to lean towards her. Another loud noise and the tree started to fall towards her. It was a thin tree, but surely enough to hurt her. She stood frozen on the spot. All the young witch could do was throw her arms up in a feeble attempt to shield herself.

The tree nearly collapsed on her, but before it could crush her it exploded into a blast of small wood chips. A few small branches and some dust landed on Lily. She stood still for a moment longer until her heart rate went back to normal. It took a minute to realize that she hadn't been flattened like a pancake, but she then started to wonder why. However, her question was almost immediately answered when she heard a voice from behind her speak up.

"Honestly, a falling tree? What are the bloody odds of that?"

Lily slowly turned around to meet the green eyes of Mr. Potter, her one time and possibly two time savior. He looked exactly the same as he did at the train station, but it had only been 3 years so it wasn't too strange. The man was also holding a thin piece of wood that was oddly shaped. He gave her a big grin which she returned, albeit slightly smaller.

"Hello again Lily," he spoke. "Oh! And promise me you won't repeat that. I wouldn't want to be the cause of you having a potty mouth."

"I promise Mr. Potter," she giggled. "Daddy says mean words sometimes when he gets _really_ angry. He usually panics when he realizes I heard him say them though."

"That's good," laughed Mr. Potter. "So what are you doing all the way back here?"

"I like the forest. Sev's dad gets mad at him when he goes out too far though so he can't come. I don't like his dad."

"He sounds mean."

"He is!" Lily blushed as she realized exactly how loud she had yelled. "I don't always come alone though. Daddy takes me out sometimes and mum came along once. I asked Tuney to come with me a couple times, but she always says no."

"Do you and your sister not get along, or does she just not like the woods?" Mr. Potter questioned. Lily frowned and looked down at the ground. Red locks hung around her face like drapes, obscuring it.

"I don't know," she answered quietly. "She never really liked going outside much in the first place. I think she still might've come a few times, but she's been so cross with me ever since…"

She wanted to tell Mr. Potter. For whatever reason Lily desperately felt the need to confide within the black haired man standing before her, but didn't know that she could. Severus hadn't explained much about magic to her yet, but he told her that people without magic weren't supposed to know about it. She remembered that there was a word that he used to describe them and tried to think of what it was. She knew that it started with an M. Was it Mundles? Maggles?

"I'm not a Muggle if that's what you're worried about," he chuckled. Lily looked up and the man was twirling the stick with a smile. She realized that it was probably his wand. She remembered Severus telling her about those. He said that they would get it from a shop before going to Hogwarts.

"You're a wizard, right?" she asked excitedly.

"Yep," he affirmed with a nod.

"Did you blow the tree up to save me?"

"Yeah, that one was me. You really ought to stop getting yourself into trouble young lady."

"Can you do some more magic?" she asked quickly without even acknowledging what he said.

Mr. Potter rolled his eyes and shot her a playful smile. He extended his arm and pointed his wand at a rock that was situated on the ground a foot away from her. Lily zeroed in on the rock like it was the most important thing in the world and was giddy with anticipation. Suddenly, the dull and grey rock turned into a big, brown rabbit. The animal shot towards Lily and she jumped to get out of the way. The young girl stumbled over a root and fell to the ground laughing as the rabbit scurried away.

"That was brilliant!" she exclaimed happily. Mr. Potter laughed at her reaction and walked over to her fallen form. He extended a hand to her, which she gladly took, and hoisted her back up. Lily's eyes were glued to his wand and he took notice.

"Would you like to hold it? You aren't going to be able to get yours for another year and a half." Mr. Potter offered his wand and she snatched it from his open palm.

She looked at the wand happily and waved it around with a laugh. Lily took another look at the wand with a furrowed brow. The long piece of wood felt cold in her small hand and just… wrong. She panicked for a split second, wondering if it meant that she couldn't do magic or that she would be a bad witch.

"I would be shocked if you could actually use that wand," Mr. Potter interrupted. "Wands are very peculiar. The reason you go shopping for a wand is not to pick out designs, colors, or anything like that. It's because you have to figure out which wood and core channels your magic correctly. That's the extremely simplified explanation anyways."

"Oh, so I can't do magic with this because it's not made of the right stuff?"

"You actually could," he shrugged, "but it would be a lot harder than using a wand that chose you. This wand in particular has some strange… quirks to it."

"Sev told me that you needed to use words to do magic, but you did it without saying anything," Lily observed with a frown.

"Well he wasn't exactly lying to you," assured Mr. Potter. "Usually you need the incantations to perform spells. However, with enough practice you can start using spells without saying the words out loud. Some wizards and witches are even strong enough that they can use magic without a wand."

"Wow," Lily said in an awed whisper, "can you do magic without a wand Mr. Potter?"

"I can. It's just a bit harder. Most of the time it's fine to just use a wand. To be completely honest most of the wandless magic I do is just to find my wand when I lose it," he explained with a laugh. Lily giggled along with him.

"Oh! I forgot to ask, how did you know-"

"Lily! Oh thank goodness!" She turned to face the relieved face of her mother who ran towards her quickly scooped her up in a hug. Her mother planted a kiss on her before letting Lily out of her arms.

"Mummy what are you doing out here?" she asked confused.

"Oh don't be silly baby, do you see how dark it is out here? I was getting so worried! I thought something happened to you. Your father thought that you would be at Mr. Snapes's house but I just had a feeling that you'd be out here."

Lily looked at the sky and realized just how much later it had gotten. She nearly winced, no wonder her mother was so worried about her. She glanced around for any sign of Mr. Potter but she had a feeling that he would pull another disappearing act. A quick scan of the surrounding area and sure enough, he was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry mummy. I didn't mean to make you worry I just lost track of time," she said honestly.

"Baby you know I don't like you coming out here all alone," her mother sighed. "Well I'm just glad that you're alright. Now let's go find your father and head home."

"Okay."

Once they got home Lily received a stern talking to from her father. She still continued to go out into the forest in spite of her mother's wishes. Although she would never say it, Lily was pretty sure that she was never alone in those woods.

* * *

When she first heard James Potter's name called out by Professor McGonagall so that he could be sorted Lily got excited. She was also happy when the boy got placed into Gryffindor with her. James looked exactly like she imagined a young Mr. Potter would look like. With the similar looks and name she assumed that James was probably Mr. Potter's son.

Upon getting to know James Potter, however, she realized that her assumption was a mistake.

There was no possible way such a sweet man like Mr. Potter could raise such a spoiled, arrogant, and mean son. James Potter was, in a word, a bully. His little gang wasn't much better. She could argue that Sirius was worse at times. While Remus and Peter didn't partake in much of the taunting, their inaction was equally as despicable.

No. There was no possible way that Mr. Potter fathered James Potter. Perhaps James was his nephew or something along those lines. Their similar appearance and name might just be a freakish coincidence. Lily was doubtful of that though.

Sometimes she wondered if Mr. Potter was even real. The red haired Gryffindor asked James of course, but he denied that there were and members of his family with green eyes. She didn't really know what to think.

Mr. Potter wasn't really something she was thinking about at the moment though. No, she was thinking about how much she hated Hogwarts. Well hated might be too strong a word. Lily loved learning magic, but there was a lot that was troubling her.

She missed her parents, for one thing. Her head of house comforted her and told her that most first years go through an awful bout of homesickness. It didn't really help her too much. She missed home. She missed her mother's cooking even though the food at Hogwarts was better at time. She missed the forest. The only one around the castle was the Forbidden Forest. She couldn't go there obviously because it was… well… forbidden. She missed Sev too.

Severus. Ever since they got sorted into different houses things were different between the two of them. Lily didn't get the point of houses in the first place. All it seemed to do was separate the student body, and it was even worse new that it was causing a rift between her and her best friend. The Gryffindors didn't like her hanging out with a 'slimy snake' and the Slytherins didn't like Sev associating with a… _mudblood_.

She hated that word.

Another thing that made Hogwarts hard was all the blood purist jerks that would constantly pick on her because her parents weren't magical. The worst part about it was that she thinks that Sev might be biting in to all that rubbish. They were so very mean to her. Severus would stand up for her in the beginning but he slowly stopped opening his mouth whenever someone verbally attacked her. He said he couldn't keep helping because of something stupid like 'house politics'. Whatever that was.

The jeers were the reason why she was currently in the bathroom with her legs curled up into her chest and her eyes red with crying. She sniffled and rubbed her sore green eyes. A knock at the door startled her, but she quickly withdrew herself again.

"Go away," Lily croaked in a weak voice. She sounded terrible, but she reasoned that her voice sounded better than it would've had she still been crying.

"You know, normally I'd reply with a sharp, witty comment. Though, given how awful you sound, I'm just going to ask you to open the door."

Lily froze. Not just because the voice belonged to a male, but because she knew that man's voice in particular. She could never forget it. The green eyed girl stood up and swung the creaky bathroom door open, revealing none other than Mr. Potter. He had a soft smile that turned into a low frown upon seeing the state she was in.

"Goodness I'm sorry. I can't believe I didn't come sooner. Seeing you crying is even worse than I thought it'd be," he whispered.

She didn't know what to say to that.

"You can't be in here," Lily muttered dumbly. He simply chuckled in response.

"Well then let's leave. You look like you could use a change of scenery," he suggested. Lily perked up at that, but then immediately returned to looking downcast.

"I can't," she shook her head, "I'll get in trouble."

"You can't get in trouble for breaking the rules if no one knows you did." Mr. Potter winked and extended an arm. "Grab onto me tight and don't let go, okay?"

She stared at his open embrace for a moment before making her decision. With a quick nod she stepped forward and wrapped her small arms around him. She heard a crack, and then it felt like she was being squeezed through a small tube. Lily felt her feet lift off the ground in one instant, and in the next they were back down and she was stumbling away from Mr. Potter. She felt nauseous to say the least.

"What happened? Where are we?" Lily asked while still trying to get her bearings.

"We're somewhere I hope you'll find interesting. Sorry, I know apparating for the first time is a dozy. You'll get used to it."

"We apparated?" she asked suspicious.

"Yup," Mr. Potter replied, popping the 'p.'

"You can't do that though. The wards around Hogwarts prevent it. It says so in _Hogwarts: A History_."

She heard him mutter something under his breath that sounded like 'goodness not another one,' before he turned to her with I smile.

"Normally you'd be correct, but I break the rules."

"What rules?"

" _The_ rules."

"What are you talking about? That doesn't even make any sense!" Lily exclaimed in frustration.

"Neither do I."

"Fine," she accepted defeat, "but where are we?"

"Like I said, somewhere I hope you'll find interesting. Take a look around. You'll probably recognize it," he finished with a smirk.

Lily turned around and her eyes nearly bulged. Beautiful cliffs and ridges stretched out for miles and miles in way that seemed endless. A small gust of wind threw her fiery hair around. She gaped at the canyons that spanned all the way to the horizon. The sun had just peaked over the horizon splashing the sky with vibrant color. To say the view was breathtaking would've been an understatement.

"Better close your mouth. You'll catch flies," teased Mr. Potter.

"We're… we're at The Grand Canyon. We're in America!" Lily exclaimed.

"Someone paid attention in Geography."

"But that would mean we've performed intercontinental apparition. That's supposed to be impossible!"

"How do you even know what that is? You're eleven!" he groaned.

"I looked it up." Lily blushed and lowered her voice. "I thought it was cool."

"Ah, wanted to be a teleporting super hero then huh?" He ruffled her hair with a smile. "Don't worry. You can get your license in a few years."

"Do you have one?"

"What? A license?" asked Mr. Potter.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Uh- that would be a negative. Don't go selling me out now."

She sighed and shook her head like she already knew that was going to be his answer. Lily walked up so that she was only a few feet away from the edge and gazed out over the expansive land. Mr. Potter followed her up to the edge and they stood there in silence for a while. Lily didn't know exactly how long they stood there, but she noticed that the sun had fully risen.

"I like to come her to clear my head sometimes. That and the sunrises are absolutely beautiful," he added softly. Lily heard a small pop and looked back to Mr. Potter. He was holding something out to her. "Ice cream?"

She gave him an incredulous look but took the vanilla waffle cone that appeared from nowhere anyways. Mr. Potter appeared to be eating a strawberry cone himself, one that had an absolutely absurd amount of scoops at that.

"I didn't know what your favorite flavor was so…" he trailed off and shrugged.

"It's vanilla," affirmed Lily. Mr. Potter gave her a small smile.

"Nice. I'll have to take you to Italy sometime. They make my favorite ice cream," he said. Lily took a look at Mr. Potter's ice cream covered, messy face and giggled.

"That sounds brilliant."

* * *

The next time she met Mr. Potter she was crying. Again. It was stupid, and she knew it was stupid but she was doing it anyways and she hated it. Sev- no, she shook her head and sniffled, _Snape_ had called her a mudblood. She knew that they had grown apart over the years but she never expected him to be so vile. Lily almost thought she hadn't heard him right. She wanted to, at least.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

"Potter side-along apparition service! Where would you like to go today Ma'am?" Lily heard a cheery voice behind her say. She turned around ready to smack James in his stupid bloody face before she came face to face with the shining green eyes that reflected her own. Mr. Potter caught sight of her tear streaked face and frowned.

"Home," she croaked. "I want to go home. Please."

She walked forward and wrapped her arms around him. The witch felt him nod and mutter a quiet 'okay' before the feeling of apparition came over her. The first thing she noticed once she recovered from the still unfamiliar feeling was that she could hear birds singing. Lily took another look around and noticed that they were standing in the forest near her house. She walked over to a tree that had fallen over and sat down. She could hear the leaves crunching as Mr. Potter made his way over to her and slowly sat down next to her.

Lily tried to reign herself in so that she didn't look like quite a mess. Mr. Potter held out a handkerchief which she was happy to use to wipe the tears. She blew her nose into the fabric before she realized what she was doing.

"Sorry," she muttered. Lily held it out awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with the now snot covered handkerchief.

"Don't worry about it," assured Mr. Potter. With a wave of his hand he vanished it. They sat quietly for a while just listening to the sounds of nature before Lily broke it with a scoff.

"I'm always either crying or almost dying when you show up. I don't know which I think is worse," she admitted. "I don't even cry that often."

"Well hopefully you're not almost dying too frequently either," he said with a smile. "Next time though, do me a favor and trip over a cliff or something. I'm not great with all this emotional stuff."

"I think you're doing just fine Mr. Potter," she laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't even know why I was so upset. Snape and I were barely acquaintances at that point, much less friends."

"Losing someone you care about is always hard," started Mr. Potter, "Whether by drifting apart or by some other circumstance."

"I suppose. You're not related to James are you? James Potter I mean," she asked out of the blue.

"I guess I kind of am, in a weird sort of way," he admitted

"I'm just gonna ignore that answer giving how confusing it is," the red head sighed. "Can I ask you for some relationship advice?"

"I literally just told you I'm bollocks with emotional stuff," laughed Mr. Potter.

"I dunno," she shrugged, "you seem to have done okay so far. Besides you're my friend, imaginary or not. Friends give each other advice."

"You think I'm imaginary?" he asked incredulously.

"Not really," denied Lily, "but I don't really know what you are."

"You could call me your guardian angel."

"Sure," she snorted. "So _guardian angel_ , can I ask you a question about boys?"

"I suppose. Just don't expect the best of answers," laughed Mr. Potter.

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "I kind of like a guy, just a little bit. The problem is that he can be a jerk sometimes and I don't really know what to do."

"Is he nice to you at least?"

"Yeah," scoffed Lily, "he's nice to me. He's been trying to get me to go out with him for years."

"That makes it easier then. Look Lily, teenagers can be huge wankers at times and I don't mean that just literally." Mr. Potter paused as Lily broke into a fit of giggles. "That being said, I think you'll find that most of them will grow up into nice, mature adults. Granted some of them don't get past their stupid teenager phase but if you think this guy might then I think it's worth taking a chance."

"Alright then, I think I'll accept next time he asks me out," she smiled.

"Good. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy mellowed out once he gets a girlfriend," winked Mr. Potter. He stood up and extended a hand to her. "Now then, I believe I promised you Italy?"

* * *

James told her to run, and she did. Lily heard the house being torn apart as she flew down the hallway and up the steps that groaned from under her. The red headed witch did he best to ignore the screams of her husband and focused on trying to save her son. She ran into Harry's room and slammed the door behind her. She picked the small boy up into her arms and tried to apparate. It was dangerous to apparate with young children, but the risk of splinching was far less dangerous than Voldemort. She felt the push of anti-apparation wards and cursed. Lily reached for her necklace containing the emergency portkey Albus had gifted to her. Her eyes widened in shock when the magical object didn't activate. Anti-portkey wards were nearly impossible to keep stable.

Lily panicked and placed Harry back in his crib. She knew that there was no way to reach the floo at that point. They were trapped. The witch drew her wand but then quickly put it back. If Voldemort saw he with her wand out he wouldn't hesitate to kill her, and she needed to try and beg for her son's life. Granted, the wizard might just kill her on sight anyways.

Her heart was beating out of her chest and she was sweating. Lily was sure that her husband was dead. She felt like collapsing at the thought but knew she couldn't. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute. She wondered if the Fidelius Charm had failed. Perhaps Peter was captured and tortured for the information, or worse, maybe he sold them out. They thought Remus was the spy, but they could've been wrong.

The door was blasted open and a cloaked figure stepped through. Lily prayed. She prayed for her child's life. She prayed for Albus, Sirius, or anyone to come and help her. Voldemort walked further into the room and Lily opened her mouth to speak, ready to give anything for the safety of her child.

Voldemort stilled and let out a cry of agony. Lily watched as the Dark Lord fell to the ground unceremoniously. She stood and stared at the lifeless form of Voldemort that sprawled out across the floor. His hood was laying over him but revealed just enough so that the red haired witch could see the absolutely shocked look etched on the monster's face.

"Well that's the end of that I suppose." Mr. Potter walked through the open doorway and stood over Voldemort. He gave a swift kick to the evil wizard's unmoving body and shrugged. Lily just blinked at him dumbly.

"I don't understand." She took a step forward and looked at Voldemort warily. "He's dead?"

"Yup. Rather anticlimactic don't you think? I expected him to burst into a cloud of evil smoke or something…" he trailed off.

Lily felt herself start to calm as she realized that the danger was truly over. She stopped trembling and gave a massive sigh of relief. The witch looked toward Mr. Potter and opened her mouth, ready to shoot off questions. There were just so many things she didn't understand. However, all those questions were lost to oblivion when she remembered her husband who was still on the first floor. Lily's eyes widened.

"James," she breathed out in absolute terror. Lily began to shake again. The redhead ran towards the door and pushed past Mr. Potter, completely unaware that she literally stepped on Voldemort's face in her rush. Lily flew through the door and down the stairs, but stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes caught the sight of James Potter laying prone on the floor.

The world just stopped. Lily felt her knees go out from under her as she lost the power to keep standing. Her breathing hitched and her eyes were blown wide. Tears started to fall, but then stopped abruptly when she heard the most beautiful sound that had ever graced her ears.

James groaned.

He sounded like he was in terrible pain but he was alive. He was alive and it was absolutely wonderful. Lily let out a choked sob and crawled over to him. She sat there on the floor for a minute and pulled him into a weak embrace.

"The-Man-Who-Lived." She heard from behind her. Lily turned around and saw Mr. Potter standing next to her with a small smile on his face and a bundle of cloth in his arms. She wasn't too surprised that she didn't hear the man walk down the creaky stairs in her state. Lily stood up, keeping her eyes on her husband all the while.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked softly.

"James Potter is the only person to ever survive the killing curse," he explained.

"What! Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Mr. Potter affirmed. "A little sore though. Well, maybe that's a bit of an understatement."

"How did he survive?" Lily turned to him. "Did you have anything to do with it?"

"Possibly." Mr. Potter rubbed his neck awkwardly. Baby Harry let out a cry and Mr. Potter held him out to Lily. "Here. He was screaming when you ran out. I calmed him down a bit but I think he wants his mum."

Lily took her child from Mr. Potter's extended hands and gently held him close. Harry's crying died down and he started to relax. Lily took in his beautiful green eyes and smiled. Her brow furrowed and she looked back to Mr. Potter. Her eyes shot back and forth between the two rapidly. Mr. Potter sighed and Lily froze.

"You're…" she thought about what she wanted to say as a million thoughts flew through her head. "You're Harry aren't you? You're my Harry."

"Yes," whispered Mr. Potter.

"I don't understand."

"Honestly, neither do I," he chuckled.

They heard a quick succession of pops from outside, signaling apparition. Whether they were Order members or Aurors were yet to be determined, but they certainly weren't Death Eaters. They were all panicking after noticing that their fancy tattoo had faded considerably.

"That's my cue."

"Will I see you again?"

"Yes," he answered with a smile, "but it won't be for a very, _very_ long time."

"Okay then," she nodded and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you later, Harry."

"Goodbye mum." They both smiled.

Lily heard the door being thrown open and she spun around. Albus was yelling for her and James in a worried frenzy. The old wizard saw her and visibly relaxed. She didn't have to turn around to know that Mr. Potter was already gone.

* * *

Holy hell this is done. I wrote this for fun and it took way longer than it should've. I'm super glad I haven't tried to do a novel length story because it wouldn't have gotten done. I think I'll stick to one-shots from now on. Also this isn't edited so my b if there's typos. I was lazy ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

-Maze


	2. Alt Ending

This is a version of the last scene that follows canon, enjoy!

* * *

Lily turned to face the Dark Lord as he entered the room through the shattered door and was struck with paralyzing terror. Though, for all of her worries none of it was in fear of her own life. A quick glance to her son in the crib behind her and her resolve was set in stone. The green-eyed witch's body was shaking, but her feet were welded to the floor.

Voldemort raised his arm. His robe fell back revealing a bony hand tightly wielding a sharp, long white wand. Its tip glowed green, illuminating the room in the Killing Curse's bright but sickly color. It was like a warning, and when the black-robed wizard spoke she leaned that it was. A hissing voice told Lily to move, that she would be spared if she simply let him kill Harry. The idea was laughable, and she probably would've had the situation not been so dire. James didn't give up his life for her to sacrifice their child's just moments later, and Lily had no doubt that no matter what Voldemort promised he wouldn't let someone like her live.

So Lily stood strong. If the only shield that she could use protect her son was her life then he would have it. The tip of Voldemort's wand grew brighter. He barked the order, telling her to move once more. Lily didn't budge, and spread her arms wide in defiance. She begged and pleaded, offering anything for the life of her son. She didn't know why she was still alive, but she would use it to her advantage the best she could. If she could stall for even a single minute it might mean the difference between life and death. Lily watched the Dark Lord's face twist over the green spell light. It appeared that whatever was preserving her life wasn't worth too much in the end.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Six syllables and it was over. The Killing Curse launched out of Voldemort's wand as he shouted and sped towards her. Lily stumbled slightly, but she stood her ground, unwavering. The spell slammed into her chest and the last emotion that Lily Potter's conscious mind held was the immeasurable, undying love for her son. For a split second she realized that she was falling. A scream rang in her ears, one that she didn't even recognize as her own.

And then she was dead.

And then she woke up.

Lily's eyes peeled open slowly. She felt strange. Her body had a sort of weightlessness to it though she was clearly lying on the ground. She adjusted he position and noticed the crunching of leaves beneath her. The green-eyed witch moved her hair out of her face and looked around. She stared at the scenery with a puzzled look on her face. She was in a forest. Lily's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She shot up quickly and looked around frantically because she wasn't just in a forest, she was in _the_ forest.

Her eyes darted to the right and caught sight of someone sitting on a fallen tree. Lily let out a soft gasp. It was someone she hadn't seen in many, many years. Mr. Potter sat hunched over with his arms rested on his knees. The man's green eyes were dull and seemed lifeless, devoid of the vivid color that matched hers. He had a grim look set on his face that made him seem much older than in her previous encounters with him.

Suddenly, the events that just stood place came rushing back to her and her heart rate sped up exponentially. Lily ran over to the man in a panic and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Godric's Hollow! You need to take me right now! Please, it's an emergency!" she yelled.

Mr. Potter looked up and met her eyes, which were leaking tears by that point. She waited a moment, but it quickly became clear that he wasn't going to respond. Lily began to hyperventilate and started to shake the black-haired wizard's shoulders.

"Please, you don't understand I have to-"

"Lily." Mr. Potter interrupted in a hard tone and Lily froze.

"W-What?" she asked with a trembling lip.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"We don't have time!" Lily yelled angrily. "I need to get home now!"

"Then go," he sighed.

Lily blinked. She quickly let go of Mr. Potter and stood up. In her panic she completely forgot that she was capable of getting back to her home without the man's help. Lily spun around, prepared for the familiar feeling of apparition to consume her.

It never came. Lily stood in place, utterly confused. She turned back to Mr. Potter. If she couldn't apparate back home then surely the wizard capable of intercontinental apparition could do something to-

Lily stopped. Her eyes shot open and she looked around slowly. It was silent, utterly silent. There were no birds singing or chirping. No bugs buzzing. Even the sound of the rushing water in the small stream she played in as a child was absent. Mr. Potter stood up and walked over to her. He took the red-haired witch's hand in his and repeated.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked again so quietly that it almost didn't reach her ears even though he was standing right beside her. Lily's eyes widened in realization and she collapsed into the man's chest. She began to tremble and seemingly endless tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh merlin," she choked out. "I'm dead."

She didn't need confirmation, but let out a broken sob when she felt Mr. Potter nod slowly. He held her for what seemed like hours. Eventually, the two ended up sat next to each other on the fallen tree. Lily leaned on the man's shoulder, exhausted.

"My husband, my son, and I," she muttered morosely, "all dead."

"Not quite," Mr. Potter contended. "You don't know what happened to your son. When Voldemort killed you he was still in quite good health."

"Unfortunately I can't match your optimism," sighed Lily. "I just don't believe that a one-year-old has much of a chance of defeating the darkest wizard of our time."

"You know, I've wanted to hear that for a very long time," Mr. Potter gave her a smile that was dripping in melancholy.

The two were so close that Lily could make out every feature on the man's face. She sat up quickly, and with two shaking hands, gently grasped the sides of Mr. Potter's face. The black-haired wizard didn't resist and made no motion to stop her. She stared into his eyes and wiped a thumb across a scruffy cheek.

"There was one time," she started with a whisper, "where you told me that you were related to James."

"Yeah."

"You just look so much like him, you know? How are you two related? I know you said it was strange, and you being you I don't doubt that, but-"

"I think you already know," Mr. Potter interrupted.

"You've got my eyes." Lily gulped. "You're him, aren't you? I don't understand it, not at all but…You're Harry, my little Harry."

Mr. Potter leaned forward and pulled her into a hug. He held Lily tightly, like he was afraid that she would slip away. "Yes," he answered.

Just like that the tears started again. Lily's still trembling arms slowly made their way around her son's back and she cried into his shoulder. She held her son lightly, unable to muster the strength to return the embrace as fiercely as Harry did.

"Always crying," Lily laughed into his shoulder. "I'm always crying or dying with you. Although I suppose this time I'm doing both, huh?"

"Yup. You know, if you wanted to get my attention you didn't have to get targeted by a dark lord," he chuckled.

"Maybe I was just waiting for you to save me?" she questioned wistfully. Lily felt him tense up and his grip on her tightened.

"I'm sorry," Harry frowned. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you this time."

"Don't be. You lived, and that's all that matters to me in the end. You can't imagine how happy I am knowing that you didn't die that night." Lily pulled back and kissed him on the cheek.

They sat together for a long time in the silent woods. Harry never knew what a mother's embrace felt like, even with Molly it wasn't really the same. He decided he quite liked it. He wasn't exactly supposed to interfere so much with souls as they passed, but what good was being the Master of Death if you couldn't use the power for yourself every once in a while.

"Will you tell me about your life? I'd truly like to hear about it. I'm also still confused as to what exactly you are, if you know what I mean. I'm guessing you didn't use a time turner and even if you did it doesn't really explain the whole… purgatory thing," the red-haired witch asked.

"I'd be glad to," Harry chuckled and stood up, "but how about we do that on the way. Come on. Let's take a walk through the forest together."

"Where are we going?"

He smiled at her.

"To the next great adventure, of course."

* * *

Thanks for reading! That'll be all for this story. I wrote this version because I was really torn on how to end it when I originally uploaded it. I'm glad I did it this way though because it probably would've been a lot shorter had I uploaded it with the first part. Though, I'm not super satisfied with this to be honest. This was a fairly difficult part to write, and I felt the middle of it is pretty weak. I wanted to get all of Lily's emotions correct but I don't feel like I hit it as well as I could've. I might throw up a re-write if I have time, but its not likely.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed. I love you all and I'll see you next time!

-Maze


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